Jake Mace
Harnessing the power of nostalgia, this coming of age recounting of Candice’s journey isn’t your average coming out story – because this time God and the Virgin Mary are here for the ride with us. Kayleigh Benham’s delightfully sensory script leads Candice from serving ice cream to confronting her religion’s complicated relationship with queerness. A stunningly serene central performance from Benham leaves you no choice but to be warmed, and invested, in this story. It rings with soul and sensation.
Alongside the heartwarming atmosphere in the room – you’ll giggle along to fully cooked-in references that spark Queer joy. Candice soon falls for Keira Knightley in all the films, alongside coming to reveal her truth to close friend Lucy. This sets her on a journey of no return into a life that might just allow her to accept both her religious and lesbian identities as one whole instead of two separate halves. Will her mum approve? Does the small rural village she grew up in have space for a Christian Lesbian? Or will she need to forge new beginnings?
Benham’s Candice hums and laments, while also never feeling too heavy-handed about it. The writing is rooted in grabbing the Queer crowd’s attention for some great laughs, but the emotional sections are relatable on a more universal level. Moments of abject silliness intersect, including a hysterical scene in which a puppet version of the Virgin Mary chastises the crowd for their various sins. This is done with a light touch, that doesn’t feel in any way bolted onto the rest of the more calm performance. Sometimes Benham isn’t able to project to the back of the room and we occasionally aren’t quite sure what’s being said, but the atmosphere created more than makes up for it.
The production design is just objectively brilliant – Candice traverses the senses in the language and this is reflected so beautifully in the set and props. Postcards, photographs, collages are revealed piecemeal and attached to a whiteboard, leaving a tapestry of Candice’s youth left behind at the end of the show for all to see. This is utilised in fun moments also where paper renditions of Candice’s mum’s ugly plates are tossed onto the ground, and where we’re invited to hold a wax orange as part of a Christingle service.
All of it feels so tactile, and the way Benham uses Candice’s senses immediately strikes up memories of your own – the smell of a church hall, the taste of a first kiss, the sensory overload of being chastised for being who you are. This is an immensely powerful talent that grounds you into this story with pathos and Queer joy in equal measure.
As I heard an audience member say while leaving – “That sung to the little Lesbian in me”, and every little Queer person deserves to be sung to.
Recommended Drink: A drink?! Do you want Mary to castigate me again?!
Catch Saint until August 10th at theSpace @ Surgeons Hall – Stephenson Theatre at 23:15. Tickets are available through the EdFringe Box Office.
Phoebe Bakker
